TEN years from now could see the closure of the Derwent Swimming Pool with no replacement. The cattle market will have gone. The Milton Rooms will be crumbling. There will have been development in our towns but without the infrastructure improvement needed.

The tension between Malton’s civic leadership and the rest of Ryedale – where three-quarters of us live – who wonder why it seems to be all about Malton, will get worse.

These are foreseeable consequences of not facing up to the challenges before us. Let’s look at them in the light of today’s economic reality.

The solutions involve spending capital, which can come from the district council’s reserves, private businesses, borrowing, or other parts of the public sector.

Let’s start with Ryedale District Council’s reserves of £10.3 million.

The four-year spending plan includes:

* Malton and Norton – £5.2 million, made up of:
Brambling Fields junction – £2.4 million
Malton School sports hall – £1.5 million
managed workspace – £550,000
Milton Rooms – £350,000
other, including the town hall – £400,000

* Elsewhere in Ryedale – £1.6 million, made up of:
Pickering flood defences – £800,000
Helmsley sports centre – £500,000
other, mostly Ryedale Folk Museum – £300,000

* Housing – £1.65 million

* Council’s own assets – £2.65 million, including investment to keep council tax down (computers, energy efficiency) and in starting to replace refuse collection vehicles.

The total is £11.1 million; we’re overspent and we can only spend the reserves once. Then statutory housing commitments, which we’ve supported by using investment interest, will become a charge on the council tax payer. Add interest on borrowings and you’re looking at an increase of up to 15 per cent in Ryedale’s share of the council tax. Some of us think we can best help hard-pressed families and businesses by keeping council tax down, not putting it up.

There could be more to come.

The Derwent swimming pool may last another five years but it won’t last 10 – £4 million? The cattle market – both landlord and tenant have options to terminate in 2013 – £3 million to keep business in Ryedale by relocation? The Milton Rooms – the minimum care and maintenance spend is £1 million. Relocation of Malton Museum and tourist incormation centre – £500,000? Replacement of lost Yorkshire Forward investment – £2.8 million?

Then there is affordable housing, support for business growth and tourism, flood mitigation, and the fact that people in the rest of Ryedale are saying “enough of Malton, what about us”. How long can you expect the 75 per cent of Ryedale people who live outside Malton and Norton to pay tax increases to support capital spending, 75 per cent of which is in Malton?

What about private business? It is reasonable to seek contributions from developers but there is only so much added value available. More for infrastructure like roads means less for affordable housing. If we provide better roads up-front we have to borrow. Take Brambling Fields. The district and county councils will borrow and recover the cost from developers. It will take 15 years.

Meanwhile, interest on that borrowing comes from council tax at a time when the district council must take £2 million out of its costs to balance the loss of government grants.

Finally there is the rest of the public sector. We’ve had a public spending boom based on borrowing. Now the bills are coming in. We have already lost Yorkshire Forward funding. There will be more to come and the message is clear. Ryedale comes low in the national priority list; we are important only to ourselves. Of course we will fight for external funding but we can only rely on our own resources.

I have not discussed raising capital through the sale of assets. There is only one big candidate – Wentworth Street car park, which could help pay for this desirable shopping list. The council has to consider the risks and opportunities involved in selling – and in not selling. It must think of the benefits and disadvantages for all Ryedale including Malton but not only Malton.

In a later article I hope to consider what the solutions might be.

* Coun Keith Knaggs represents Ryedale South West. He has submitted this article in a personal capacity.